<div dir="ltr">From: <b class="gmail_sendername">South Centre</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:south@southcentre.int">south@southcentre.int</a>></span><br><div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote"><table class="gmail-m_-4316869104494891544mcnTextBlock" style="min-width:100%;border-collapse:collapse" width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody class="gmail-m_-4316869104494891544mcnTextBlockOuter"><tr><td class="gmail-m_-4316869104494891544mcnTextBlockInner" style="padding-top:9px;border-collapse:collapse" valign="top"><table style="max-width:100%;min-width:100%;border-collapse:collapse" class="gmail-m_-4316869104494891544mcnTextContentContainer" width="100%" border="0" align="left" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td class="gmail-m_-4316869104494891544mcnTextContent" style="padding:0px 18px 9px;color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:200%;border-collapse:collapse;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;text-align:left" valign="top"><span style="font-size:14px">A
new report by the World Health Organization has revealed new data
confirming the “serious situation of antibiotic resistance worldwide”.
Information from some countries show a high incidence of resistance, up
to 82% for bloodstream infection, 51% for penicillin and 65% for E.
coli associated with urinary tract infections.<br>
<br>
“The report confirms the serious situation of antibiotic resistance
worldwide,” says Dr Marc Sprenger, director of WHO’s Antimicrobial
Resistance Secretariat. “Some of the world’s most common – and
potentially most dangerous – infections are proving drug-resistant. And
most worrying of all, pathogens don’t respect national borders.”<br>
<br>
The new report, released on 29 January 2018, contains surveillance data
on antibiotic resistance obtained from WHO’s Global Antimicrobial
Surveillance System (GLASS). It reveals widespread occurrence of
antibiotic resistance among 500 000 people with suspected bacterial
infections across 22 countries.<br>
<br>
The most commonly reported resistant bacteria were Escherichia coli,
Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Streptococcus
pneumoniae, followed by Salmonella spp. The system does not include data
on tuberculosis (TB), which is reported separately in WHO’s annual TB
report.<br>
<br>
According to a WHO press release: </span>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size:14px">Among patients with suspected
bloodstream infection, the proportion that had bacteria resistant to at
least one of the most commonly used antibiotics ranged tremendously
between different countries – from zero to 82%.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:14px">Resistance to penicillin – the
medicine used for decades worldwide to treat pneumonia – ranged from
zero to 51% among reporting countries.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:14px">Between 8% to 65% of E. coli
associated with urinary tract infections presented resistance to
ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic commonly used to treat this condition.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size:14px"> <br>
The Report represents a first attempt by WHO to report official national
AMR data for key pathogens to a global system using standardised
surveillance methodology. <br>
<br>
According to a Summary of the 160-page report: <br>
<br>
GLASS supports the development of three essential core components for
national AMR surveillance: a National Coordination Centre (NCC), a
National Reference Laboratory (NRL), and sentinel surveillance sites
where both diagnostic results and epidemiological data are collected.<br>
<br>
The core components are linked together by a constant flow of data and
information exchange, and work together to building an effective network
for detection and monitoring AMR in clinical samples. Almost all
countries that have enrolled in GLASS have in place, or are working to
establish, a system that includes these three core components.<br>
<br>
National AMR surveillance plans have been introduced in most of the
countries enrolled in GLASS, and surveillance National Focal Points
(NFPs) have been identified in all countries, working closely with the
GLASS Secretariat alongside WHO Regional Offices, Country Offices, and
regional networks.<br>
<br>
The most frequently reported were resistance patterns for E. coli, K.
pneumoniae, S. aureus, and S. pneumoniae (17 countries among the 22
countries reporting AMR rates), followed by resistance patterns for
Salmonella spp. (15 countries). AST results for N. gonorrhoeae and
Shigella spp. were compiled by 11 and eight countries, respectively.<br>
<br>
The full WHO report can be downloaded by following the links starting with the one below: <br>
<br>
<a href="https://southcentre.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fa9cf38799136b5660f367ba6&id=e3b21da4e0&e=4fac633f11" style="color:rgb(109,198,221);font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">http://www.who.int/<wbr>mediacentre/news/releases/<wbr>2018/antibiotic-resistance-<wbr>found/en/</a><br>
<br>
Below is the WHO press release of 29 January 2018.<br>
<br></span>
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<p style="text-align:left;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:14px"><b>WHO Press Release: </b><b>High levels of antibiotic resistance found worldwide, new data shows</b><br>
<br>
<a href="https://southcentre.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fa9cf38799136b5660f367ba6&id=e770bd3745&e=4fac633f11" style="color:rgb(109,198,221);font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">http://www.who.int/<wbr>mediacentre/news/releases/<wbr>2018/antibiotic-resistance-<wbr>found/en/</a><br>
<br>
<b>29 JANUARY 2018 | BANGKOK</b> - WHO’s first release of surveillance
data on antibiotic resistance reveals high levels of resistance to a
number of serious bacterial infections in both high- and low-income
countries.<br>
<br>
WHO’s new Global Antimicrobial Surveillance System (GLASS) reveals
widespread occurrence of antibiotic resistance among 500 000 people with
suspected bacterial infections across 22 countries.<br>
<br>
The most commonly reported resistant bacteria were Escherichia coli,
Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Streptococcus
pneumoniae, followed by Salmonella spp. The system does not include data
on resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which causes tuberculosis
(TB), as WHO has been tracking it since 1994 and providing annual
updates in the Global tuberculosis report.<br>
<br>
Among patients with suspected bloodstream infection, the proportion that
had bacteria resistant to at least one of the most commonly used
antibiotics ranged tremendously between different countries – from zero
to 82%. Resistance to penicillin – the medicine used for decades
worldwide to treat pneumonia – ranged from zero to 51% among reporting
countries. And between 8% to 65% of E. coli associated with urinary
tract infections presented resistance to ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic
commonly used to treat this condition.<br>
<br>
“The report confirms the serious situation of antibiotic resistance
worldwide,” says Dr Marc Sprenger, director of WHO’s Antimicrobial
Resistance Secretariat.<br>
<br>
“Some of the world’s most common – and potentially most dangerous –
infections are proving drug-resistant,” adds Sprenger. “And most
worrying of all, pathogens don’t respect national borders. That’s why
WHO is encouraging all countries to set up good surveillance systems for
detecting drug resistance that can provide data to this global system.”<br>
<br>
To date, 52 countries (25 high-income, 20 middle-income and 7 low-income
countries) are enrolled in WHO’s Global Antimicrobial Surveillance
System. For the first report, 40 countries provided information about
their national surveillance systems and 22 countries also provided data
on levels of antibiotic resistance.<br>
<br>
“The report is a vital first step towards improving our understanding of
the extent of antimicrobial resistance. Surveillance is in its infancy,
but it is vital to develop it if we are to anticipate and tackle one of
the biggest threats to global public health,” says Dr Carmem
Pessoa-Silva, who coordinates the new surveillance system at WHO.<br>
<br>
Data presented in this first GLASS report vary widely in quality and
completeness. Some countries face major challenges in building their
national surveillance systems, including a lack of personnel, funds and
infrastructure.<br>
<br>
However, WHO is supporting more countries to set up national
antimicrobial resistance surveillance systems that can produce reliable,
meaningful data. GLASS is helping to standardize the way that countries
collect data and enable a more complete picture about antimicrobial
resistance patterns and trends.<br>
<br>
Solid drug resistance surveillance programmes in TB, HIV and malaria
have been functioning for many years and have helped estimate disease
burden, plan diagnostic and treatment services, monitor the
effectiveness of control interventions, and design effective treatment
regimens to address and prevent future resistance. GLASS is expected to
perform a similar function for common bacterial pathogens.<br>
<br>
The rollout of GLASS is already making a difference in many countries.
For example, Kenya has enhanced the development of its national
antimicrobial resistance system; Tunisia started to aggregate data on
antimicrobial resistance at national level; the Republic of Korea
completely revised its national surveillance system to align with the
GLASS methodology, providing data of very high quality and completeness;
and countries such as Afghanistan or Cambodia that face major
structural challenges have enrolled in the system and are using the
GLASS framework as an opportunity for strengthening their AMR
surveillance capacities. In general, national participation in GLASS is
seen as a sign of growing political commitment to support global efforts
to control antimicrobial resistance.<br>
<br>
The need for a global surveillance system was highlighted by WHO in 2014
in the Antimicrobial resistance global report on surveillance.<br>
<br>
In October 2015, WHO launched the Global Antimicrobial Surveillance
System (GLASS) working closely with WHO Collaborating Centres and
existing antimicrobial resistance surveillance networks and based on the
experience of other WHO surveillance programmes. For example, TB drug
resistance surveillance has been implemented in 188 countries over the
past 24 years. HIV drug resistance surveillance started in 2005 and by
2017, over 50 countries had reported data on pretreatment and acquired
resistance using standardized survey methods.<br>
<br>
Any country, at any stage of the development of its national
antimicrobial resistance surveillance system, can enrol in GLASS.
Countries are encouraged to implement the surveillance standards and
indicators gradually, based on their national priorities and available
resources.<br>
<br>
GLASS will eventually incorporate information from other surveillance
systems related to antimicrobial resistance in humans, such as in the
food chain, monitoring of antimicrobial consumption, targeted
surveillance projects, and other related data.<br>
<br>
All data produced by GLASS is available free online and will be updated regularly.<br>
<br>
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s Director-General, has underscored
his aim to make antimicrobial resistance one of WHO’s top priorities by
bringing together experts working on this issue under a newly created
strategic initiatives cluster.</span><br></p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>